Grimsby salmon farm plan formally submitted

Aquacultured Seafood, the company behind the UK’s first land-based salmon farm, has this week submitted a formal planning application for its proposed site in Grimsby.

The move means the £100m scheme, on England’s east coast in the centre of the country’s fish processing industry, is moving ahead on schedule.

The North East Lincolnshire Council planning committee should give its decision by September, but the project is expected to go through.

The fish farm will create at least 100 jobs, and with Young’s Seafood recently announcing the closure of one of its local factory sites where 260 people are employed, it means the Aquacultured development now takes on a new urgency for Grimsby’s seafood sector.

Last month Aquacultured founder and director Neil Jamison told Fish Farmer at a public consultation in the town that the company would be submitting a full planning application within weeks.

The application states that the proposal represents “a high quality development and a substantial investment” for Grimsby. It adds that that the project will act as a catalyst for further developments, which should create additional new jobs.

The RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) facility is designed to produce 5,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a year, aimed exclusively at the UK market.

Aquacultured hopes to be producing its first salmon within four years. Assuming the application is approved, the company will need to spend a few months finalising the plan before starting construction.

It has given an assurance there will be no smell from the site, and virtually no noise, with all waste leaving in sealed containers.

Artificial intelligence will feature extensively in the design. Aquacultured has also engaged the Israeli company AquaMaof to handle the RAS technology.